


Shaking the wings of their terrible youths

by jazzyjesse



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, i see two characters and i decide they're in love, rarepair time baybey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:08:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21895663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jazzyjesse/pseuds/jazzyjesse
Summary: A short glimpse into a world in which Eodwulf runs and finds himself with a ragtag patchwork team and what could follow.
Relationships: Fjord/Eodwulf
Comments: 6
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a dance  
> warnings: alcohol

_He puts his hand on Fjord’s shoulder, “Do not let me fall asleep face down in the gutter tonight.”_

_“Won’t happen.”_

The tavern is warm; the firelight interior made even warmer by the dancing and liquor. Eodwulf won that drinking competition for them which he honestly didn’t expect, and now he’s sat at a table in the corner next to Nott watching Jester and Molly pull Fjord and Beau across the room against their will. Yasha and Kiri are probably sound asleep upstairs in their room by now. He almost starts to nod off before catching and berating himself.

The music reminds him of home—not Rexxentrum but his first home, Blumenthal—the fire’s light and warmth brings back memories of gentle kisses placed to new wounds, nights holding each other, mornings waking too warm and too crowded on a bed made for one now housing three, and a sure and prideful boy shattering like ice under military-issued boots. Eodwulf looks up to see Fjord flushed and beaming like a shooting star across the room, he feels his chest tighten but pushes that aside. He’s had his chance for feelings. He’s had his time filled with sweetness and love before. He doesn’t have room in his charred heart anymore. 

Wulf pulls his face back down to the gnarled wood of the table; it’s seen a lot in a place like Hupperdook. He barely registers Nott pulling on his arm until Jester’s less than three feet from him. 

“Come dance with me!” She says with sweet eyes but a predators smile and how could he resist? The two twirl around the room, the music and clumsy steps reminding him even more of home. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Nott and Molly in the midst of their own crooked and joyous dance. He and Jester stumble around the room until they bump into Fjord and Beau leaning against a wall. Jester lets go of his hands with a gasp, “Beau, come dance with me!” Wulf is left reeling next to Fjord as the two run off to the so-called dance floor. 

“Fjord, Fjord, Fjord,” Wulf says leaning closer to the—slightly—shorter man, “Come waltz with me.” For a moment the only response he gets is a slight shocked look and a laugh. 

“I can’t do any fancy dances you’re gonna hafta lead,” Fjord takes Wulf’s hand and pulls him out to where the rest of the Nein are sloppily dancing. Wulf guides Fjord’s hands to where they should be for a waltz and begins to lead; Fjord looks down at their feet trying to keep up and learn the dance while both of them are drunk. Wulf can’t help but laugh at it, he just looks so cute. 

“Makin’ funn’a me, Wulf?” Fjord’s face is pulled into a sloppy scowl, Wulf puts his forehead onto his shoulder. 

“Never, Fjord,” He breathes in the now-familiar scent of leather and salt mixed with alcohol. They sway for a while longer, Wulf just enjoying Fjord’s warm skin and the soothing motions. He closes his eyes and just lets himself live in the moment for once. Then a foot comes down on his and he laughs into the comfortable shoulder, “You always were a bad dancer, Bren… worse than us.”

“Bren?” A voice that is decidedly not Bren’s answers. Wulf pulls back to look Fjord in the eye and breaks any physical contact they had. 

“Yeah…” 

“You feeling alri-” 

“Oh, I’m sorry. ‘M sorry,” Wulf mumbles turning away from Fjord and to whatever the nearest exit is. He gets yanked back by his coat.

“C’mon you told me not to let you pass out in the streets. Let’s get you to bed, you’re drunker than me and Nott combined.” Wulf lets Fjord corral him up the stairs and into a cold bed, blankets are brought up to his chin as Fjord leans over him to make sure he’s all tucked in. 

“You… are green,” A more sober Wulf would berate himself on the lack of eloquence, but luckily Wulf is severely intoxicated. 

“Yes, I am. An’ you’re very nice and a little stinky, guess Jester’s right.”

Wulf looks up at Fjord, his golden eyes shine from the moonlight. His warm—so warm—green skin glows in the cool light of the room. He looks like a prince from a fairy tale. In his (love) drunken gaze he sings, “One of those things is true, and you are greeeeeen,” 

“I’m sure Bren loved you very much,” Fjord brushes Wulf’s hair off his forehead, places a quick kiss there that the next day’s Wulf will forget, and he gently shuts the door behind him. Wulf is asleep before Fjord leaves his bedside. 

Eodwulf dreams of fire and starlight, of magic and swords, of red and green, of two loves long gone and burned out, and of new embers burning brightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is from a wizard swap au some friends and i were talking about and i thought abt wulf dancing with fjord and got GAY so this happened i've got no defense other than im very gay for both wulf and fjord and just combined that gayness


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a kiss perhaps  
> warnings: drowning

Eodwulf has been drowned before, of course, he has with all his training, but every time there was no threat of permanent death. His lungs burn and he wishes he tied his hair up before all this so it wouldn’t be getting in his face now. He tries to swim up to the door, he has the key and if he lets his new… team drown in a temple to a sea demon he would never forgive himself. He pushes his limbs as hard as he can but his vision is getting spotty. He needs to get up to the door and he needs to do it now. Wulf’s lungs burn and ache a few more seconds and he’ll lose the fight and let the water into his lungs. He needs to keep moving. 

A hand catches his and Wulf prepares to attack but stops when he sees its Fjord. Wulf looks at him quizzically, unsure of what he’s doing. Fjord must know that he’s running out of air he must know that each millisecond he stays still is another closer to drowning. Time slows, maybe it’s the oxygen deprivation, maybe it’s the fact that it’s Fjord. His hands reach out and cup Wulf’s face like they were made for it, their lips press together and Wulf can breathe. Wulf gives one too-long look to Fjord who nods up to the door. Eodwulf can do this. He _has_ to now. If he doesn’t then Fjord will drown because of him.

What comes next is a blur, Wulf isn’t entirely sure how they get out but they do. They make it back to the ship in one piece. Nott gives him a look once things cool down and they both retreat to their room fairly quickly. 

Wulf slumps onto his bed, the waves rocking the ship are anything but comforting but Fjord looks at home on the sea. He could walk across the deck in the middle of a storm and remain standing. Wulf guesses he just hasn’t gotten his sea legs yet. He looks across the room to his small friend, Nott isn’t dealing with being on the sea very well either. She’s fiddling with a coin or button she’s picked up from somewhere. She looks so small when she’s curled up like that with her knees to her chest, taking up as little space as possible. Eodwulf stands and crosses the room to her. 

“Would you help me with my hair? The little swim we took made it difficult.” He says sitting down next to her. She gives a small smile back.

“Of course, Wulf.” She sets down her little treasures and sets to work on Eodwulf’s knotted hair. It’s strange to feel eight thin and sharp fingers work so well in knotted hair but it’s comforting. If he closes his eyes he’s almost back at Soltryce before everything went wrong, or maybe back in Blumenthal with his parents. The rocking of the ship and the overwhelming scent of the sea air quickly pushes that fantasy out of his mind. 

The two sit in silence for quite some time. Just the rocking of the ship, the waves lapping against the sides, the voices of the crew barely audible, the words have gotten trapped by the wood only the emotions are left behind.

Eodwulf eventually makes his way up to the deck during the night. He enjoys the quiet of the sea and the ship. The only sounds are the waves, a few hushed conversations, and those working on the rigging. The only ones here at this hour are Avantika’s crew and Yasha who leans quietly against the rail looking off into the distance. Privately he wonders how far into the dark she can see. He joins her at the rail, he finds comfort in her silent way of speaking. 

“We’re similar, I think,” She says after a moment of silence. 

“I cannot take as many hits as you,” Wulf sighs, tucking a loose strand of hair behind his ear. The braid Nott did is immaculate as always, even when his mother braided it for him it never looked so neat. She turns, a small smile for most on her lips but a grin from Yasha.

“Maybe not. Do you still love them?" She asks with such a casual air that his heart almost forgets to skip a beat.

"Who?"

"I don't need to say who. You already know." She looks back over the ocean. 

"Yes. What about you?"

"I still love her… but… " Yasha frowns.

"But you love someone else now," Wulf finishes. She nods slowly.

"I see the way you look at him, Eodwulf." 

"And I see the way you look at her," She turns to him again, a sad look in her eyes, "Ja. We are similar," Wulf casts one last look over to the dark horizon, "Goodnight, Yasha." 

The next morning, sometime after breakfast Eodwulf is cornered by Jester. He was hoping to postpone this debriefing for longer. 

“Wulf! You kissed Fjord!” She says, tail swishing behind her like an excited puppy. It’s just the two of them in the hall. He’s trapped. 

“Technically, Jester, he kissed me,” Wulf leans against the wall, giving up any hope of escape, “I’m not even sure if that _was_ a kiss.” Jester gasps as he looks down the hall for eavesdroppers. 

“Have you ever kissed a boy? Was this your first kiss?” Her eyes light up, Wulf chuckles softly.

“I _have_ kissed a boy before, so no, this wasn’t my first kiss.” Instead of boring her like he hoped (but knew it wouldn’t), the response makes her more excited.

“What was it like?” Jester asks, leaning against the other wall to mirror Wulf.

“Sorry?” 

“What was it like when you kissed him? Was this mystery boy your first kiss?”

“I- He was my first kiss yes.” Jester looks up at him eagerly, waiting for him to continue, “Uh, his lips were chapped and I’m pretty sure there was blood on my face. It was honestly a bad kiss.” 

“Then why do you look so happy?” 

“What?” He shakes off the memory of Bren’s hands cupping his cheek, “It’s just not the thing you forget easily is all.” What he doesn’t say is that the kiss was an accident and that Astrid laughed at them before kissing them both. 

“Does it count as a kiss if you’re drowning?” Jester asks with such sincerity that it almost makes Wulf laugh. 

“I’m not sure. I don’t think it does,” Wulf looks down the hall again just in time to see a small green blur disappear around the corner, “Nott! What are you doing down there?”

“Nothing!” She calls back as she runs up to the top deck. Wulf sighs and looks back to Jester. 

“We should get going. We can talk about this later,” Wulf starts walking away before she can argue. Unfortunately for Wulf, Jester can talk and walk at the same time. 

“We can talk now. _So_ , did you like the kiss?” Jester skips alongside him. He doesn’t look at her. 

“It wasn’t a kiss, Jester. He was saving my life.”

“I think it was a kiss, and I’ve seen lots of kisses in my life,” Jester wiggles her eyebrows at him but he refuses to look at her. If he looks at her then he’ll lose and start calling it a kiss; he knows it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my friends wanted more


End file.
